PŘEMYSL OTAKAR II BRINGING CHRISTIANITY TO PAGAN PRUSSIANS

Thanks to its composition and colour scheme, this crowded scene describing king Přemysl Otakar II’s first successful crusade to Prussia in 1255 is one of the best examples of Lhota’s history painting. The idea of the crusade came from the Order of Teutonic Knights and the king organized it to gain the favour of the papal Curia. The victorious crusaders forced the defeated pagans to convert to the new Christian faith. Lhota painted a carton with this motif and exhibited it in 1844 at the annual exhibition of the artists’ association Krasoumná jednota; the painting was commissioned by the Liběchov patron of the arts Antonín Veith. In 1861 Lhota painted, after a preparatory carton by Christian Ruben of a similar composition, a mural for the Belvedere at Prague Castle.